"O
n the Ropes" tells the true stories of three young boxers. One of them is
sent to prison, although she is apparently innocent. We watch as she is
represented by an incompetent lawyer, crucified by uncaring prosecutors and
sentenced by a judge who exhibits the worst kind of barbarism: indifference to
those whose lives he has power over.

The most amazing thing about the trial and conviction of Tyrene
Manson is not that it happened. Justice miscarries all the time in America,
frequently when poor black defendants are involved. The new movie
"Hurricane" tells the true story of a boxer much more famous than
Manson, who was railroaded for life on three fabricated murder convictions.

No, what is amazing is that the lawyer, the prosecutors and the
judge allowed themselves to be filmed as they toyed recklessly with Tyrene
Manson's life. You'd think that even the most indifferent of jurists would be on
good behavior before the camera. Perhaps the camera itself explains their lack
of prudence. "On the Ropes" was filmed by Nanette Burstein and Brett
Morgen with a low-tech Sony Handycam; its subjects might not have expected a
real movie to result. But it did and won the Special Jury Award at Sundance. Now
they know.

"On the Ropes" is a sports documentary as gripping, in
a different way, as "Hoop Dreams." Both films are about ambitious
young people from the ghetto who see sports as a road out of poverty. "On
the Ropes" centers on the New Bed-Stuy Gym in New York, where a wise
trainer, himself a survivor of hard times, guides the careers of three boxers.

The trainer's name is Harry Keitt, and his story also will figure here. The
boxers are Tyrene Manson, a young Golden Gloves contender who has already
knocked out the defending champion; George Walton, who seems to have genuine
professional potential, and Noel Santiago, who is quick and promising, but
easily discouraged. As they prepare for upcoming fights, we learn something of
their stories.

Tyrene Manson's is the most inspiring--and therefore most
heartbreaking. She is determined to be "the first member of my family to
make something of myself." Trapped in poverty, she lives in a house with
assorted other family members and is raising two nieces who belong to her Uncle
Randy, described in the movie as a crackhead. During her training for the Golden
Gloves, disaster strikes when Randy is arrested for selling drugs to undercover
police. They search the house, find cocaine in a bedroom and charge Tyrene with
possession with intent to sell.

Now pause a moment for Tyrene's story, which is more than the court did. She is
a woman with no previous history of drug crimes. She does not use drugs. Five
people shared that bedroom as their sleeping quarters. There was no lock on the
door. She had been trying desperately to find other houses for herself and her
nieces, to get them away from the crackhead and his life. Why was she the one
charged? Because she was there.

Now follow the progress of the court case. Because her court-appointed attorney
forgets a key appointment, Manson's trial is rescheduled for four days before
the Golden Gloves. She asks for a postponement so she can fight. Request denied.
On the very day of her fight, she is sentenced to four and a half to nine years,
after a "trial" that is an incompetent assembly-line procedure. One
wonders if the judge even really saw her. Certainly he took no notice of her
story. Her lawyer is so inept we want to shout obvious suggestions from the
audience. Her tearful speech in her own defense does her no good.

The message is clear: The drug epidemic is so widespread and the
courts so overburdened and cynical that a defendant without a competent lawyer
is more or less routinely doomed to be locked up. In this case, the evidence
suggests that Tyrene Manson was innocent. But to be cynical, even if she were
guilty, if she had been white, rich, or well-represented, she would never have
done a day, because of the tainted evidence trail.

There is more heartbreak in the film. We watch as George Walton
shows such promise that he gets a shot at the big time and promptly allows
himself to be fast-talked by Vegas types, while hard-working Harry Keitt gets
left behind. We see how hard Harry works to help Noel Santiago find direction in
his life. We learn something about Harry himself, his own past history of drug
problems, his homelessness and how the gym represents his own comeback. And we
see the almost unimaginable disappointments he has to bear.

In a few weeks, I will be reviewing "Hurricane,"
another powerful film about a black boxer who did not deserve to go to prison.
It contains an intense, furious performance by Denzel Washington--Oscar
material. If he wins the Academy Award, I can suggest a three-word acceptance
speech: "Free Tyrene Manson."